Zealots and Converts
by DavidB226Morris
Summary: A new challenge is about to face the staff at the White House. At stake is not merely the campaign ahead but possibly the future of the Democratic Party


ZEALOTS AND CONVERTS  
  
A West Wing Story by David Morris  
  
Rating: PG-13 (Strong language)  
  
Spoilers: The MS storyline. Alternate Universe after '100,000 Airplanes'  
  
Summary: The Bartlet Administration faces an unexpected challenge.At stake is not merely the campaign that lies ahead but the future of the Democratic Party  
  
Disclaimer: President Bartlet and his staff are not my creation. (Though Lord knows I wish they were mine.) They are the property of Aaron Sorkin (may he live for a thousand years)Several of the characters that we will encounter belong to me; I will point them out if they need clarification.Also, I don't know a lot about the inner workings of politics so the events that I am about to describe may be impossible. Anything that I get wrong, I apologize in advance.  
  
Feedback: DavidB226Morris@aol.com. This is my first attempt at West Wing fanfic so forgive me if I get anything wrong.  
  
White House Press Office 11:15 A.M. Two Days After the State of the Union  
  
Like many serious conflicts, the problem began as something as insignificant as a single question asked by a man who wasn't even a regular member of the White House press corps. Tom Buchanan wasn't even the regular reporter for the Baltimore Sun. The regular political columnist was, like a good many of his fellow reporters, in Iowa watching the straw polls that would eventually lead to the first winner in the Presidential sweepstakes. C.J. Cregg had not gotten to know him very well yet and wasn't sure whether she should. She had to be careful in her relationship with the media. Earlier in the administration, she had been considered too friendly with certain members of the press--- which isn't necessarily the greatest thing to have when you speak for the President. Things had been even worse when she had made a bad slip in a press conference soon after the President had announced that he was running for reelection. Several members of the White House had thought that she should resign---and she was still not sure how she had been saved. Things had improved a little since then and she was beginning to feel that she was safe.  
Ironically (she thought after the fact) today was seeming like it might be a good day. Joey Lucas had just announced the most recent polls showing that the Presidents approval rating had risen substantially since the State of the Union and for the first time, there was real statistical evidence that the President just might be able to win a second term. The environmental bill calling for a twenty percent reduction in fuel emissions was out of committee in the Senate and there was a chance that it might pass, which would be a big help with the environmental lobby. Even Bruno Gianelli (the political adviser who everybody admired but nobody really liked)seemed to be the tiniest bit more relaxed then he usually did.  
Things seemed so under control that C.J. Did something that she did from time to time-- detach herself from the spiel that she was giving. She was still fully aware of what she was doing, of sure, but she expended the tiniest bit of mental energy on what else she needed to do and who was in the press corps today (with thoughts of Danny Concannon never far away). She was slightly less there but it wasn't like she had zoned out.  
She was therefore fully conscious when she noticed Tom Buchanan's leaning forward and decided to let him ask the next question. The reporter seemed a little nervous, so C.J. smiled and tried to put him at ease.  
'C.J. Does the White House have any comment on the latest failure of H.R. 835 to leave the Justice Committee?"  
For a brief moment, C.J. Didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Then she glanced at her briefing notes. Sure enough, near the bottom was a mention of H.R. 835. Under it she had written STONERS REJOICE! And she smiled  
H.R. 835 was the latest attempt at one of the those acts of legislation that Congressmen make from time to time that have next to zero chance of getting out of committee, let alone coming to the floor of the House.The abolishment of the Supreme Court, homosexual marriage, etc.. H.R. 835 was,like most of these bills, very simple at its core. It called for the complete legalization of all drugs. Not Medical marijuana, no prescriptions.All drugs.And if that wasn't enough,the bill gave emphasis that controlled substances like heroin and cocaine were especially high on the list. For obvious reasons, this legislation had no chance of getting anywhere.  
C.J. smiled and began to give the prepared response. "Obviously, the President feels that it is important for any legislation regarding the trafficking of controlled substances should be given full consideration. That said, there are obviously other more effective ways of dealing with the situation than legalizing all of them.'  
That should have been the end of it. C.J. had already prepared to move on to the next question when she heard Buchanan pipe up.  
'Does the White House have any comment on Congressman Reardon's statement that the Democratic Party doesn't have the courage to deal with the most serious problem facing our nation today?"  
C.J. wasn't entirely sure that she had heard correctly. She was tempted to ask Buchanan to repeat himself, but she knew that would give the impression that she--- and indirectly the White House--- didn't know what was being done in the House of Representatives. This was bad. Bruno's going to be pissed, she thought. Leo's going to be pissed. Hell she was pissed. 'The White House has always had a good relationship with Congressman Reardon and hopes to maintain one. We welcome contrary points of view and hope that we can come to an understanding with him as we deal with this obviously important issue." She knew how weak that response would sound, but it was better to make any response to this question then none at all.  
Two minutes later, after cutting the briefing a little short, C.J. Left the podium and told Carol to find Buchanan at the gate and hold him. She started the walk back to her office, pretty sure of what was going to happen when she got there. Sure enough, she was not quite half the distance back when she saw the familiar form of communications director Toby Ziegler.  
"You didn't know about----" C.J. , knowing what was coming, tried to cut him off.  
'This is the first that I'm hearing about it. Reardon didn't send me any briefings that he was doing something like this'  
"No, because when you're in charge of the press corps, you have no access to what on earth is going on from Congress. Because you know how low key those people tend to be."  
C.J. wasn't quite sure if Toby was saying what she thought he was saying. "Toby in case you've forgotten, Reardon's not one of the enemy.'  
"Yeah, I'm really glad he's on our side."  
"Look, I'm going to talk to Buchanan. Maybe we're making much ado about nothing."  
"Oh, so now you're telling me that he was misquoted."  
By now they had reached the offices where most of the work at the White House was. Waiting for them were Sam Seaborn, deputy communications director and Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff.  
"Did someone change the rules while we were sleeping?" said Josh.  
"Look, its not like he said this on Larry King." C.J. Said defensively  
"No, just in our back yard. The Republicans already have got our ass in a sling. We don't need any more trouble from the House of Representatives."  
  
'It's not the house, it's one egomaniacal man from the Maryland eighth who decided that its not enough to kick a man when he's already down." said Toby.  
C.J. stopped in her tracks. A thought had just occurred. 'Toby, you're not going back to that again, are you?" Sam and Josh, not quite sure what this was about, stopped as well  
''This has nothing to do with it, I didn't even remember it but since you brought it up I think that Reardon is an arrogant sonofabitch who doesn't know how to respect the chain of command." By now Toby had raised his voice to the extent that the secretaries were beginning to look up at him as if something extremely serious was going on.  
"He didn't insult the President, he insulted you. Aren't you going to get past that?"  
"I'm not the one who was being petty here and what's the point of being in power if you can't occasionally lord it over people."  
"You know, it's funny you should mention that because Josh and I were talking over how underrated the idea of dictatorship was." As was often the case, Toby ignored Sam's attempts to be amusing.  
Carol walked up to C.J. "He's waiting in your office."  
"Thanks. Look I'm going to talk to Buchanan. He's a new guy,maybe he just made a mistake in how this works. Don't tell Leo or the President until we know that there is something to be upset about."  
"I hope the God you're right. "Toby walked back to his office. Sam and Josh stayed behind.  
"Don't the two of you have some actual work to do?"  
"Yeah, but its always entertaining watching you make a reporter sweat." said Josh with the barest trace of a smile on his face.  
"I'm not Cardinal Fang. I'm not going to bring out the cushions and the comfy chair on this guy." Sam nodded, Josh looked puzzled.  
"Black Adder?"  
"Monty Python." said Sam  
"I'm going now. Find something to do that doesn't involve changing our DefCon status."  
  
Tom Buchanan was a little younger than most of the usual political reporters which meant that he could have been anywhere from thirty to forty- five.He was fidgeting like a kid who has been called in to see the principal though whether it was because he was in the White House or because he had never been here before was unclear. C.J. hoped that she could use this nervousness to figure out what exactly Reardon was up to.  
"Hello Tom." As she entered the office she made a motion to him to remain sitting.  
"M-MIss Cregg."  
"C.J."  
"I'm sorry if I did something to embarrass you, C.J. I'm--- well obviously, I haven't been here that long and I'm not entirely sure what the protocol is."  
"It's quite all right."  
"It's just that---- well you know how hard Congressman Reardon is to talk to."  
That was a huge understatement. In seven years in D.C., Reardon had become well known for being one of the hardest men in Washington to communicate with the press. He wasn't insulting or mean to them, but his attitude was that the press had agendas other than the one he wanted to proceed with. He always talked as if they were only nominally important and that they should have more respect for Congress in general. He rarely called press conferences and when he did, he always tried to define the agenda. The press didn't hate him, but they weren't his biggest fans either. Because he wasn't from an integral state or on many important committees the press dealt with him as little as possible which was fine with Reardon. Because he had been loyal to the Democratic Party, it was also fine with the White House.  
"I was as shocked as anyone when he told me that he wanted to make a statement. He told me that it might be the kind of thing that could help my career. He said that it was very important that the White House not know about his opinion until he let the story get out." Buchanan was beginning to ramble a little.  
"Did he tell you why he was waiting until now to give you a story?"  
Buchanan hesitated again. It was clear that he was nervous for more reasons than he had just embarrassed the White House. Something was bothering him about what he was about to say.  
"Miss Cre---C.J. I have the greatest admiration for President Bartlet and I wouldn't want to see him get caught with his pants around his ankles."  
"It's OK, Tom."  
"Well, Congressman Reardon said that he had tried to send the President a message on Tuesday and if he didn't get it, there would be--- consequences."  
Buchanan said 'consequences' in a stumbling nervous way. That word was still enough to send chills down C.J. 'S spine. It meant that this had gone from one Congressman with a grudge to something far more serious.  
"Anyway, that's all I have say. "Buchanan had recovered a certain level of his self control, perhaps revealing that he had said too much.  
"Yes thank you, Tom." C.J. made a motion for Tom to leave without really thinking about. The administration had just gotten a whole new headache. She had have said things were going to get tougher except that she didn't know when they were going to become easier. One thing was for sure. They were going to say that this was her fault.  
  
1: 06 p.m.  
  
"How the hell could C.J. not know about this?" Toby looked around in aggravation." And by the way, why isn't she here?"  
At least thirty seconds went by before Sam ventured a response. "She said she had to try and find out what message Reardon sent to us on Tuesday."  
"Well that's just great. Hank Reardon has declared war on us and she is looking for the declaration."  
Josh Lyman had been working around Toby long enough to know that while he was the quickest one to see the glass as half-empty, the level of aggravation was usually vastly out of proportion to the actual threat. Toby was right to be concerned, but it seemed that he was getting a little too wound up. (Later on ,however, he would think that for once Toby had been eerily accurate in his direness.)  
He was about to dare Toby's wrath when Toby turned his anger towards another target. "Bruno, you didn't see this coming? You're supposed to be our eyes and ears and you don't have clue one that he isn't going to drop a bomb on this."  
Bruno Gianelli, the political adviser to the President , sat unruffled. This had a calming effect on most of the others in the room. "The reason I didn't tell you anything is because there's nothing to tell.Reardon hasn't made step one in fundraising, he hasn't filed for participation in the primaries in any of the major states or even in Maryland,and he hasn't made a single statement in which he has expressed the remotest level of interest in trying to get the Democratic nomination. Buckland at least made some kind of effort, and he was a lot bigger in the party that Reardon is. "  
For a moment Toby seemed stymied. "What about filing for petitions for a third party candidacy?"  
"The only man whose making even an effort to try for the Presidency is Gilette and we've known about that for the past five months."  
"Well, maybe Reardon's getting into bed with Gilette. I wouldn't put it past him to get involved with that Nader would be."  
Josh thought that this was an example of Toby's placing his aggression where it didn't belong. Seth Gilette was the junior senator from North Dakota. He had not been a big fan of the administration since before the President had made his disclosure that he had MS. In fact, right after Bartlet's Third State of the Union, he had been vitriolic towards the White House treatment of the environmental lobby and attitude on Social Security reform and had threatened that he would run as a third-party candidate if the White House didn't take him seriously. The only problem was Gilette was statistically a zero. He didn't have enough of a reputation as a Senator to be high on any political list. Even after the President's popularity was near its nadir, he hadn't been able to rise above 14% in any of the major polls. It was possible, of course, that Gilette was getting numbers that Bruno wasn't but Josh would be willing to take odds that wasn't happening.  
"You've been in D.C. longer than I have. Do you think the two could be telling tales out of school?" Bruno asked  
"Yes because I follow around all our political opponents and see exactly who and what they communicate about."  
"Toby..."  
"I don't know! Maybe Gilette and Reardon play cards together every Tuesday; I don't know. I have enough trouble keeping track of what the people in this White House are doing; I don't have the time or the inclination to keep track of which Congressmen are speaking to other senators."  
At this point Josh decided that it was time to step up. "Toby, I think maybe you should calm down a little. "Toby looked daggers at Josh but he held firm. "Bruno, do you think that Reardon could be trying to run as a third party candidate?"  
"No. The guys not John Anderson or Ross Perot; he doesn't have the reputation or the finances to mount a successful campaign. Certainly not in the time that he has left. "  
"So what he's basically doing is trying to press the White House because he doesn't like what there doing to him. That's bad, but its not something that we haven't dealt with before. "  
"I'm not making any deal with a man like him." Josh suddenly got what this might be about.  
"Toby, if this is about that thing, it was two and a half years ago. You gotta get over it."Toby made a face and Josh remembered that Toby could hold a grudge a long time.  
"Is this something that I have to know about?" Bruno asked  
"When the administration was trying to pass a bill restricting the sale of automatic firearms two years ago, Reardon refused to vote for it."Josh explained.  
"You're getting the story wrong."  
"Toby, I just started..."  
"You're still getting it wrong. Reardon agreed to vote for it, but a day---- a day!---before the bill was coming to a vote, he told us that he had ideological differences and that he couldn't vote for it."  
"Wow. I can see why you would hate a man with principles." Bruno said  
"Reardon was taking campaign contributions from the NRA! The man's just another hypocrite saying that he isn't controlled by the money! He just remembers his principles when they're convenient!"  
"Toby,we got the bill through."  
"Yeah and Hoynes got most of the credit. We needed that win, and when the chips were down, he welshed on us."  
Sam winced. "Geez, when did you become Dutch Schultz?"  
"Is that supposed to be funny?"  
"NO. What is amusing is how determined you seem to be to let this one vote rule the rest of our relationship with Reardon. I mean hasn't he been on our side for almost everything else that we needed?" When Toby remained silent, Sam asked: "Did you even bother to check his voting record?"  
"I suppose you have."  
Sam gestured to a book that he had in front of him. "The man has been solid for us on China and Israel, he was with us on the estate tax and the environment, and he was with us on the education bills. The guys been with us Toby. He doesn't want to be a problem to this administration."  
At that moment, C.J.entered the room. "I wouldn't be too sure of that." Everyone turned towards the press secretary. Josh noticed that she had a grim look on her face.  
"Doesn't anybody bring good news any more? "Said Josh  
"What did you find?" asked Toby  
"I think I found the message that Henry Reardon was sending to the President." She took out a videotape. "I remembered a statement that some of the Republicans made after the censure that they still did not approve of the actions of the President and that they would show their disdain when it was possible."  
Suddenly Josh remembered "Yeah, it wasn't a big deal. There weren't going to be too many of them only seven or eight, right."  
"Actually, it was eleven. Including Shallick and Fitzpatrick." Those were two of the more critical Republican congressmen of the administration.  
  
"No one pays any attention to them. They disagree with what the President has for breakfast."  
"Well, some network thought that they were important enough. The camera cut to them at least once during the State of the Union." C.J. put the tape in the VCR.  
"What do those Republicans have to do with..."  
"Just watch." The tape was set about twenty minutes into the State of the Union. The President had just finished another rousing optimistic dialogue about the economy. The camera cut to several members of the DemocratiC party vigorously applauding him. Then it cut to the Republican side. Sure enough, there were about a dozen Republicans not applauding. At that moment, C.J. Paused the tape. "Look in the upper right corner."  
Because Josh had only a vague memory of what Reardon looked like, it took him a moment to find who C.J. was gesturing toward.  
There on the far border of the Republicans was Congressman Henry Reardon of Maryland. And while several of the nearby Democrats were applauding heartily (or at least doing a damn good job of faking it) Reardon was sitting very still with a look of something between anger and unhappiness . His silence spoke more eloquently then any quote ever could.  
Reardon had a problem with the President. The question that now occurred was what did he plan to do about it.  
  
4:00 P.M.  
Ever since Bartlet had surprised everyone (including some members of his staff) by announcing that he would run for a second term, Leo McGarrey had known this was going to be an uphill battle. Any momentum that had been gathered by the first term was squandered if not out and out completely destroyed by Bartlet's revelations about his health. The Oval Office only held so much prestige and telling the world that he had, in effect, been lying to the American people about a potentially fatal health condition, had decimated the standing of the man who had been his best friend since high school. The President had taken a lot of assault and he knew that there would doubtless be a lot more before November. But he and his staff had expected most of the conflict to come from the opposition. The Republicans would have been vicious in their assault even if Bartlet hadn't been in this situation. An attack from their own house was literally the last thing that they needed. Leo didn't want to think what cards they would have to play in order to keep this situation from developing further.  
"You're telling me that because Henry Reardon didn't applaud at the State of the Union he's launched an assault on us? Please tell me you have more than that." said Leo to Josh and Toby, hoping against hope that they didn't.  
"C.J. has gotten some recent quotes that say he hasn't been happy with the way that the White House was being run even before the President announced that he was running for re-election. " said Toby  
"Reardon is directly quoted as being against the President?"  
"No, but there are a series of anonymous quotes that sound like him." said Josh.  
"How do we know that they're from him?"  
"The quotes were leaked to the Post, the Baltimore Sun,the Maryland Star , and the Delaware Post-Dispatch."  
"That's awfully circumstantial."  
"Reardon doesn't talk to many reporters; C.J. told us these are the papers that he trusts."  
"What has be saying?"  
"That the White House is too lax on drugs, that we don't have a very strong fiscal policy..." Toby started.  
"That's what the Republicans say."  
"After we did our part to kill the crime bill, he said that the President better not come down to his district because some one might take a shot at him."  
Leo stopped short. "Did he say this after Rosalyn?" "About a week before. The editor didn't print it because he thought that it was in especially bad taste."  
"Still that's two years ago."  
"A week before the hearings began, he said that the President might want to be careful if he thinks that the House is a place where his friends can help him." Leo winced when he heard this. A lot of Democrats had been pissed when Bartlet had been coy about whether or not he was going to run for reelection. He had taken a lot of meetings the day before, but he didn't remember if Reardon had been one of them.  
"What are we hearing from the hill?"  
Josh and Toby looked at each other. "If Reardon is discussing running for President, no one on the hill has heard about it. " said Josh" The minority leader hasn't talked much with Reardon about anything other than legislation; Webster, Bachman and Lowenthal say that he's only spoken to them about bills on guns and drugs."  
"What about his aides?"  
"They claim that they don't have any idea what he's up to. Which is possible, given Reardon's attitude towards them."  
"You mean that he keeps his aides completely in the dark as to his political plans?" That wasn't impossible, but in a media crazy age such as this it would be nearly suicidal for a Congressman to try such a thing.  
Josh shrugged. "Reardon has a reputation for marching to his own drummer."  
"What does Reardon have against politics?" Leo knew all the Congressmen by reputation, political tendencies and position, but by necessity he didn't keep track of everyone's personal history.  
Josh looked down at another piece of paper "Reardon was a member of the Baltimore PD for eighteen years . In March '94, he decides to run for the Maryland eighth, beats two guys in the primary who were on paper superior and wins the seat by the hair of his ass. Whatever he said to the people in his district its been going over big ever since. He won his last election with 57% of the vote."  
"SO maybe he decided it that it was time to light out for greener pastures?" Toby and Josh looked at each other with an expression of frustration and lack of understanding. "Great. SO what you're basically telling me is that Reardon could be preparing a palace coup and we would never know about it from the people who are supposed to keep us informed."  
"Leo, whatever it is, we can handle it."  
"That's pretty damn cocky considering that we're not entirely sure what it is we are supposed to be handling."  
"What do you want us to do?"  
Leo thought a second before a wicked idea came to him---just logical enough for Toby to accept it even though it would kill him. He turned to him trying to keep a poker face. He don't know how good it was because Toby was exceptionally good at reading people. Whichever it was Toby got to it a split second after looking at him.  
"I'm not going to talk to her."  
"Toby----" Josh got it too.  
"I am not going to talk about Congressman Reardon with my ex-wife,Leo!"  
"Toby, it's the logical thing to do. She's from the Maryland fifth, he's from the Maryland eighth, they must have at least had lunch together at one point."  
Toby wasn't the kind of man to simmer but he came close to it now. Leo knew that Toby's marriage was something that the man didn't discuss. It wasn't that the divorce had been ugly; it had been practically harmonious.He thought that part of the problem was that Toby still had feelings for his ex-wife.It had been nearly three years since the two had separated but Toby still wore his wedding ring. He had been known to bluster about what a big disaster his marriage had been, but he thought that was mostly talk.  
Josh knew or at least sensed some of these things because he spoke: "Look if that's a problem, me or Sam can...."  
Toby uttered a huge sigh: "No, I will talk to Andi about Congressman Reardon. Because I have developed and I have grown and because I am still capable of being a mature adult."  
Leo said simply: "Good."  
"However, if I find out that she's been sleeping with him, he's gonna need more than two Secret Service agents to protect him."He walked off determinedly toward his office.  
"What do you want me to do?" Josh asked.  
"Talk with Reardon's secretary. See if you can find out who this guy has been talking to other than the press."  
"Isn't that considered spying?"  
"Reardon's already made it quite clear that he's taking some kind of action against us. I'd like to know what it is that he's planning before he fires another warhead at us."  
"Are you going to inform the President?" asked Josh.  
Leo hesitated. "Not until Toby and you come back with something solid that I can tell him. Reardon may be playing some kind of game of chicken with us. The last thing that the President needs is this kind of distraction."  
"Isn't it already a distraction? CNN and FOX news are already playing up that Reardon fired a shot at us and that we were caught unawares. "  
"What have they been saying about Reardon?"  
"They're not entirely sure what he is doing either. "  
"Didn't they try and reach Reardon at his office?"  
"They did. He said 'No comment.'  
Leo paused. After nearly twenty-five years in politics, he thought that he had seen almost every trick.This one just didn't make any sense. "You're telling me that Reardon takes a crack at us and now he just doesn't seize the opportunity?"  
"That's what I'm telling you."  
"Either Reardon is the most naive political operative in Congress or he is the most brilliant strategist I've ever seen."  
Josh paused. He wasn't sure what to make of this either. "Let's hope to God that the former is true."  
  
8:30 A.M. Outside The Washington MOnument  
As he did on nearly every time he went to see Andi, Toby tried to convince himself that this was strictly a strategic meeting and that there would be no undertones, sexual or otherwise, in meeting with her. He wasn't entirely surprised that he didn't succeed. The fact of the matter was Toby was still at least a little in love with her. He knew that their relationship had failed for a good many reasons---- the complexity of their jobs, their disputes about children--- but he knew that there were more good feelings than bad ones between them. That was probably one of the reasons that at least once or twice a month for the past three years, either he would call her or she would call him and they would meet at a motel. Sometimes they made love, sometimes they didn't. Mostly they just sat and talked about their jobs and how lonely they got. Toby knew that this was troublesome and would be awkward to explain if the press ever got wind of it,and on a couple of occasions he had considered telling her that,but could not bring himself to do it. AT his core he knew that at least some part of him still needed Andi, but he didn't know if or how the two of them could even try to do things like they were normal.  
Toby mentally berated himself. This was a particularly bad time to be thinking about his relationship with Andi. There were all the earmarks of a political crisis in the air,and though the other members of his staff would doubtless think that he was just being his old dour self, he thought that Reardon might be a real problem. He thought he knew what this Congressman was up to, but Reardon was making it very difficult for anybody to get a clear picture. Indeed the fact that Reardon was making it so difficult to discover his plans. Generally, when somebody made it very difficult to figure out what he was doing, it meant that he was up to something devious.  
"You know, if you keep taking me to places like this, I could start to read certain things. " The cheerful voice came from his left. He looked around and was not surprised to find Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt standing near him with a bemused look on her face.  
"Hello to you too, and I happen to be very secure in my manhood." Toby rebutted.  
"I think we both know how secure you are about that particular subject, Pokey."  
"Andi, could we please change the subject?" This was getting perilously close to flirting and he really did not need to add this complication.  
"Hey, you're the one who called for this meeting." Andi began walking across the boulevard.  
"This is serious."  
"I know,you've got that serious Ziegler look on your face. Is this about the education package, because I know that the President...."  
Toby shook his head. "The education package is a problem a month down the line. It's about Hank Reardon."  
Andi stopped moving. The smile disappeared from her face. "Oh boy."  
"Then you know what this about."  
"Toby, if you called me to ask what Hank Reardon is up too, I can tell you right now that I have only the vaguest idea what that redneck cop is up too."  
Toby looked at Andi in surprise. "Andi, he's from the same state as you. The two of you must have at least met on the campaign trail."  
"Toby, you know how everybody says that they don't like speaking with politicians. Reardon means it. Four years ago, I offered to campaign down in the fifth with him. The sonofabitch told me that any rally or speaking engagement that I attended, he wouldn't. I'd like to think that he was just being chauvinistic except I know that at least every other Congressman from Maryland made the same offer and got turned down. "  
Toby was floored. Nobody could do this kind of thing and get elected once, much less four times "Then how the hell did he manage to get reelected?"  
"The man spends at least half of his campaign in his district talking to the people telling them that the people in Washington are liars and frauds and that they need someone like him in order to keep them honest. He also gets something for his district at least once or twice so he can tell them that heis working for them. Which isn't a lie."  
"Are you saying that Reardon serves Congress and never talks to anyone?"  
"Of course. He talks about legislation, about appointments, and about the problems with society. Sometimes he will have lunch with us and discuss the Orioles, he goes to Congressional functions and talks to people there. HE will deal with us but he doesn't like us very much." Andi paused. "That's what makes his behavior over the last six months particularly weird."  
"What has he been doing?"  
"After the midterms, he began to get more and more concerned that the administration wasn't doing enough on crime. He mentioned gun violence in particular." Toby didn't show it but this troubled him. Was Reardon perhaps feeling guilty about not going along with the assault weapons bill? "He also said that he didn't understand why the President wasn't taking this opportunity to go after hate groups." That also gave him a jolt. After the shooting, he had tried to convince his fellow staffers of a similar strategy but had realized that he was too focused on what had happened. He had not bothered to learn that others in the administration had felt the same way.  
"Are these the only subjects that get him upset?"  
"Maybe its because he used to be a cop,but those things  
really seem to chafe him. AT least until last May. "Andi paused. Toby knew why. What had happened almost a year was still having ramifications everywhere. Like many members of Congress, Andi had been particularly upset that she was one of the last to get the news. She understood why Toby couldn't have told her,but she had still been more than a little pissed.  
"Remember how angry the Republicans got when you announced that the President had been lying about having MS? "  
"I was aware that there was a certain amount of misplaced rage." Toby said dryly.  
"They weren't the only ones. We tried to keep it quiet but there were some Democrats who were really mad. Reardon was by far the most irate."  
"How pissed was he?"  
"When the President gave his press conference immediately after he made his disclosure, several Congressmen got together to watch it on TV. When Reardon heard that Bartlet was running for reelection, he threw an ashtray against the wall."  
"Damn. What else did he do?"  
"I heard that he went to the Justice committee and asked whether the President had done enough---- to be served with articles of impeachment."  
Toby was fairly good at masking his emotions,but this made him shudder. "How come nobody in the press heard about this?"  
"The people at the minority leaders office called in a lot of favors to try and keep this quiet. I'm still not entirely sure how we got away with it. Maybe it was because of Reardon's reputation with the press,but nobody picked up on it."  
"When the hearings began, did Reardon do anything to try and get involved?"  
Andi shook her head. "He didn't have enough seniority to get a seat on the Committee. But he was still pretty pissed. Even after the President agreed to take the censure, he still said that it wasn't nearly enough for what he had done."  
"Jesus Christ." Toby wasn't sure what else to say. "And nobody took the trouble to inform us that he was after our heads?"  
"It's not like he was leading an armed insurrection. Some of the other Democrats in Congress were pissed about.... what the President did but they got over it. They cooled off after a little while. Reardon was the only guy who's still holding a grudge. "  
'Any idea as to why he's so angry?"  
"I don't know. He's always been very affronted by deception;maybe it offends his former police sensibilities."  
"Yeah, because people in law enforcement are renowned for their honesty. Christ. " Toby said again. "Do you have any idea what he's up to now with this recent behavior?"  
"I don't know what the hell he's thinking. If you're worried about what I think you are, he's not talking about running for President. He's made it incredibly clear that he doesn't understand why anybody in his right mind would want that job."  
"A lot of politicians say that."  
"Yeah, but this comes from a guy who as best as anybody in Congress can figure doesn't even want to be in politics."  
"Well then why has he been making all this noise?"  
Andi walked a little closer to Toby--- not intimately, but enough for Toby to feel a little more uncomfortable.  
"When he has talked about politics, he used to say that loyalty to the party was more important than anything else. Since May, he has said that it has been hard for him to remain loyal."  
Toby began to draw together what little he knew about Reardon to figure out what he thought was going on."Do you know who else he has been talking to when he talked about politics?"  
Andi sighed. "Recently he has been talking to Hellanowski, Gardener and DeShane."  
It took a moment for Toby to put together the faces and the seats that went with each name. When he did, he partially realized what Reardon was up too.  
Hellanowski was from the Indiana ninth, Gardener from the Oklahoma sixth, and Deshane from the Michigan fourteenth. On issues the three Congressmen agreed on nothing. However, they all had something in common that made them a pain to deal with individually.  
All three had been elected to Congress as Independents.  
Toby took this all in for a moment. If Reardon was planning what he thought he was, then this was only a minor inconvenience, and not nearly the trouble he had imagined. But then why was he talking to Seth Gilette? And why was he being so secretive about his plans?  
At that instant his phone rang. "Yeah, what?"  
"Andi give you anything?" It was Josh.  
He looked at her. "Yeah. I think I know what he's up to."  
"Well, I think that there is more to it than she knows. I need you to come back to the White House. WE need to meet with Leo."  
  
1:45  
Just as he was about to go into the Oval Office, Josh had pondered how frequently political administrations are saved --- or brought down --- by simple dumb luck. He didn't want to think how many times the Bartlet administration had been saved by a simple twist of fate, but they had caught something very important just a matter of hours ago that may have saved them from being caught in a very awkward position.  
When Leo had told him that they needed to know how Congressman Reardon was thinking, Josh had figured that he meant they would have to spy on him.One could not simply go up to a U.S. Congressman and ask him what the hell he was thinking (although Josh would have done so in a heartbeat) because if they were wrong and were caught doing it, the Republicans would seize upon it like wolves. It was therefore imperative that they try and find out from someone who was already there, and if necessary send somebody in to Reardon's organization. This would be difficult under normal circumstance, particularly so because Reardon was suspicious of the people who worked for him. Thus the need to talk to Reardon's secretary who was one of the few people who knew about how his mind worked.  
He asked Donna to call Reardon's office and had a frustrating conversation with the woman. Miss Cox said she was not allowed to reveal his schedule to anybody. She had gotten particularly disturbed when she knew who was calling, but she remained loyal to her boss.  
This was not good. It did not help matters that Donna had overheard the conversation and asked him if what they were doing wasn't considered spying.  
"Donna, Henry Reardon has gone to great lengths to both attack the President and hide what he is doing from us. We are entitled to know what the hell he is planning."  
"I know that, but..." she paused. "People stopped trusting government because of things like this. The White House keeping close tabs on the movements of people they called 'enemies' If we do this,aren't we stooping to their level?"  
Donna had a way of cutting through the rhetoric to get to the heart of the matter. In an office full of smart people, she was the most frank. "Which is worse: Donna, being considered a spy or being considered a fool?"  
"Neither choice seems that good."  
"Politics is about making difficult choices. You should know that by now. "That quieted Donna,but she still looked at him when he asked her to get the staffing at Congress.  
It took some doing to figure out who might have been working with Reardon. The man had most of the same staff that he had when he arrived in Congress. This was particularly unusual because there was usually a certain level of promotions among Congressional aides. To talk to somebody who would be willing to do what needed to be done in order to find out what Reardon was up to would have taken a lot of time which was not on their side. However, Josh had then caught a break that he still didn't quite believe a day later.  
Donna told him that Chris Wick was on the phone. Josh immediately bristled. Wick had been a fraternity buddy with whom he had been instrumental in getting a seat in the Virginia fourth. They hadn't talked much since Josh had been in the White House but he still thought that they were pretty close. However, a couple of years before Wick had withdrawn his vote from an assault weapons bill (the same one that had gotten Toby pissed at Reardon) because he didn't think he had gotten enough PR with the President. It had angered Josh then and he was still teed off about it now. Still, he thought that maybe Wick could give them some inside information.  
"What's up, Chris?" he said into the phone.  
"Josh, you may have a problem." Wick sounded troubled.  
"Our cup runneth over with troubles. You'll have to be more specific."  
"Yesterday, Hank Reardon asked me to lunch."  
Already Josh didn't like where this conversation was headed. "And this is a problem because?" he asked, trying to sound unconcerned.  
"He's never asked me to lunch on a matter that didn't concern an upcoming vote. He's not known for being friendly with anybody. He's barely acknowledged my existence outside of the floor."  
"And what happened at this lunch?"  
"We were just talking about the usual stuff. The Wizards,the problems with finding a workable staff, been to any good films recently. The usual shit. Then all of a sudden he asks me what I think my chances are in the upcoming election."  
Another alarm went off inside Josh's head. The Virginia  
fourth had been a mostly Republican district for a while; in fact Wick had been the first Democrat elected there in nearly twenty years. Wick had barely won election their five years ago and had barely won re election. The Republicans had a strong opponent and they had set their sights on this seat as well as a dozen others. "What did you tell him?"  
"I told him that I knew that the upcoming election wasn't going to be easy,but I thought that I could pull it out. You know, the usual bullshit." Wick paused again. "Then he asked me...if I planned to run on the President's coattails."  
Josh sucked in a breath of air. Ever since the President had disclosed his illness, many prominent Democrats had been saying that they didn't want Bartlet coming to their district. They had done a lot to improve the President's reputation but a lot of candidates and incumbents were still sending out the signals that they did not want to campaign with him. "What did you say?"  
Wick now sounded even more uncomfortable than he had when he had started the conversation. "I told him that I wasn't sure yet." Before Josh could respond, he quickly added: "That's not the point of this call."  
"Well,get to the point."  
"He told me that he had looked at some polls that had me down 55 to 40."  
Josh was stunned. "Where did he get those numbers?"  
"The same place that I am; that's pretty much where I am about now. He asked me did I have any reason to believe that these numbers would change dramatically in the next few months. "  
"What did you say ?"  
"I told him that there were still ten months to go and a lot could change. Then he asked me if I thought that I still really had any chance. Well,by then I was getting pissed at him, so I asked him what did it matter to him?" Wick paused again. "Then he asked me whether or not I had considered all my options."  
Josh was already getting pissed as well. He was beginning to get the outline of what Reardon was planning, but he needed Wick to solidify it for him. " What did that mean?"  
"He told me that he was forming a third party to challenge for seats in Congress in November. He asked me if I wanted to join him."  
The first thought that went through Josh's head was Shit! The second thought was: Reardon's not doing what we thought we were. Maybe it can be handled.^The third thought was: Shit!  
"What did you tell him?"  
"I told him that even contemplating such an idea would amount to political suicide. He---" Wick stopped for a second. "He told me that I was dead politically now, so what did it matter what they carved on my tombstone."  
"The man has a gift for metaphor. " Josh sounded calm,but he was seething internally. He wondered why he hadn't confronted Reardon directly."  
"I asked him if he asked any other Congressmen this. He said that he'd asked a few and that some had accepted."  
"He didn't happen to mention who these brave souls were?"  
"No, and I can't even begin to guess who else would join him.Reardon has been acting weird for the past six months, but I think that he must have really flipped out. The guys never misses an opportunity to say how much he hates politics and here he is showing it."  
"What are you going to do when he asks for an answer?" That was the least of their problems,but Josh needed to know how to play this.  
"I told him to go to hell. I may be in bad shape but I'm not stupid enough to wipe out my political future---- short as it may be."  
Josh couldn't feel sympathy towards his friend. If he had the time, he would have tried to buck Wick up but now he was facing a political crisis of the greatest magnitude possible.  
"He tried some half-ass attempt at swearing me to secrecy. He must not have known about my connection with you."  
"Or he did and is somehow trying to play us."  
"Maybe."  
"Have you talked with anyone else?"  
"No. But the way that he's acting, someone in the press is going to pick up on this soon."  
"Unless we're lucky." Trouble was, Josh thought, the last time they were lucky had been Super Tuesday.  
" Look, I understand that you have a problem so I'll talk to you later."  
"You have the thanks of a grateful president, Chris, and that should count for something."  
"Thanks. I'll let you get to work."  
Before Josh had put the phone back on the hook, he yelled out: "Donna! " His assistant was in his office a split second after the last syllable had been uttered.  
"Did you hear the conversation I just had?"  
"Only your half of it. Do you know what Reardon is doing?"  
"Oh yeah."  
"How bad is it?"  
A lot of analogies went through his head. He didn't have time to be clever.  
"Henry Reardon is forming a third party. He's going to use the Democrats as his draw pile." Donna got it  
In quick succession, Josh told Donna to call Sam, Toby, C.J.,Leo, Bruno, the minority leader, Gallup and Joey Lucas. "When you call Gallup tell them I want the latest polls on every Democratic Congressman."  
Donna didn't blink at this. "That's going to take some time."  
"Reardon took the time. He didn't pull Chris Wick's name out of a hat. He knew exactly how vulnerable he was. WE have to know who he's going after and what we can do to counter it. Get the polling information so we know what it is that we are up against."  
"What about the President?"  
"We have to know how severe the damage is in our own house first. Move." As Donna left, Josh knew that the administration had gotten a huge break in Wick's call. He hoped that they had gotten it soon enough.  
  
Three Days Later The Roosevelt Room 7:45 P.M.  
  
As Leo looked out at the staff, he thought (with a wryness he did not think he would have been capable of) that he thought that the people who served at the pleasure of the President had a habit of working best when there was a crisis. Well, now there was one. One of a magnitude that had been unseen in decades and now they had to try and resolve it. The big problem was that the man in question seemed to be willing to let this come to a head.  
He asked Josh the question that he had asked at least a dozen times already: "No one has been able to get a hold of Reardon."  
"According to his secretary, Reardon is in Baltimore meeting with highly ranked members of the Police Department. He hasn't returned any of our phone calls and his housekeeper keeps claiming that he's at the office."  
"Has anybody gone to his office?"  
Josh hesitated. "I've gone there once. So have Toby and Sam. If you can believe it, his secretary has been instructed not to let anyone who works for the President have a meeting with him."  
"I say we get a couple of Secret Service over there to arrest the sonofabitch." Toby had been wound up ever since he had met with Andi.  
"Oh that's a good idea. Let's lock up a member of our own party. That won't let the Republicans think that there is trouble among our own rank and file" Sam said sarcastically  
"He knows what we want to talk to him about and he's deliberately dodging us. Reardon is controlling the issue and making us look like amateurs."  
"All right there's no point in getting panicked." said Sam.  
"We have long since passed the time for reasonable thinking. He talked to ten fellow Democrats and asked them to leave the party. Six of them aren't returning our phone calls either. This is a goddamn insurrection and we've been caught with our pants down!" BY now Toby was as close to shouting as he ever got. Leo would have told him to calm down,except a) he knew that when Toby got wound up it was almost impossible to get him down and b) he wanted everybody to stay angry. He was plenty pissed himself. He turned to C.J. "What does the press know?"  
"If the media has been alerted to what Reardon is up to, no one in the White House press is saying anything about it."  
"What about the hill?" asked Sam  
"That's harder to say. Someone must be keeping track of the moves that Reardon has been making but if they have no ones been talking about it."  
"I find it hard to believe that it in this day and age, anyone in the House of Representatives could make the kind of moves that are being made and not spill a drop." said CJ  
"Not unless you consider who these people are."Josh looked down at the piece of paper he'd been holding since the meeting began. "Hamlin, Openshaw, Farley and Biegel were all elected in the midterms. No one notices you in Congress until you've put a few miles on your odometer. What's more those were seats that they barely won. I don't think they've seen much of the President since election day."  
"And that's enough reason to jump ship?" Toby interjected. For the time being, Leo chose to ignore Toby.  
"What about Sinclair and Dietrich? They've been here longer than that."  
"They're both facing primary challenges and may not even be on the ballot in November. Neither have been on any issue that was important." Josh sighed. "Reardon didn't pick these guys at random, Leo. He knew enough to push the right buttons."  
Leo then asked the question that he had been putting off. "How bad is this gonna hurt us?" He appeared to be asking the question to everyone but he looked towards Bruno. The political adviser then gave the last answer that Leo had been expecting.  
"I'm not sure." Leo knew what the look on his face was because he could see it on everyone else's face. Before anyone had a chance to express outrage or exasperation, Bruno recovered. "I don't know if any political consultant could tell you. No one has come across a problem like this in my lifetime. If Reardon was running for President, I could tell you how much that this would hurt us and where. But what Reardon's doing...." He shook his head. "I don't think that anyone has tried this since Theodore Roosevelt. And even then, they had a guy at the head of the party."  
"All right then,lets say that Reardon is in bed with Seth Gilette and he runs as the head of this third party. " asked Leo. "How big a hit would we take?"  
"Well the last polls we did with Gilette were two months ago. It was something like six, seven points.But we didn't factor in Reardon or anything else of this magnitude. Without running new polls, I couldn't say" Bruno paused. "It really doesn't matter. The second that he and these other Congressmen announce that they are leaving the party, the Republicans will be on us like ants on a picnic."  
"They'll trumpet the fact that party unity is a joke, and let's face it if he does it will be. " said Toby.  
"Hell, even if Reardon was the´only guy, the Republicans would be all over us anyway."  
"So what do we do?" asked Josh.  
A good question. There were only two things that Leo could do.One plan was to try and find out what Reardon wanted and then give in to some degree, the other was using the full power of the White House and the Democratic leadership to do everything in their considerable power to destroy Reardon and his fledgling movement. Neither option made the President look particularly good and none of them would help him think that he was trying to serve the country.But these were his options and he knew he had to try and do what he could to help the man he worked for and who he knew shouldn't have to make decisions like this. He decided to make an end run and head the problem at the pass.  
"Josh, I want you to go see Reardon."  
"Leo,we've tried that...." He held up his hand.  
"Tell CONgressman Reardon that you speak for me and for the White House. Tell him that we wish to avoid any kind of fight involving the Party and that if he still feels any loyalty to the institution he has served for seven years, he will meet with you."  
Josh paused. "What do you want me to say to him?"  
"Get him to confirm his plans and ask him what he wants if he doesn't do them."  
"What if he asks for something that we can't give him?"  
"Good. AT least he'll be asking for something."  
"Leo, if you do this and the press gets a whiff of this...." said Toby  
"Then we look as bad as we will if he runs as an independent. There's no way were coming out of this unscathed. The idea now is to get away with as little damage done as possible."  
"What are you going to be doing in the meantime?  
"I'm going to brief the President." Leo had already told him about what he thought Reardon was up too. To say that the President was disturbed would be like Bill Gates owned a modest software company. He had raved about incompetence and the blindness of the people that he trusted. He had yelled something about having Reardon drummed out of the Democratic Party and was only calmed down when Leo told him that was probably what Reardon wanted. All that he had told his staff was: "He's not happy.'  
"What else?"  
" Start talking with the minority leader in order to see what actions have to be taken if.... " He trailed off. No one needed him to complete this statement.  
"If you're going to talk to Reardon, I want one of my people with you." Bruno said. Leo knew that Josh was going to protest. Everyone knew the importance of Bruno and his people, but that didn't mean that they liked having him around.  
"Fine. Then you go." Bruno looked surprised but didn't argue. Neither did Josh.Leo took this as a good sign. God knew they needed some of those.  
  
Offices of Henry Reardon  
9:45 P.M.  
  
Josh looked at his watch for the fourth time in twenty minutes and tried to get himself to relax. He was not at all surprised when this attempt failed as well. He did not want to be doing this and if Leo hadn't insisted on it, he wouldn't have. He thought that what Henry Reardon was doing was cut-and-dried treason and that he should be booted out as far from Congress as possible. In his mind this was giving in an action that went against everything that he and the White House stood for. He knew that people would say that politics was all about compromise but for him compromising was something you did if you couldn't walk over your enemy. H e was especially pissed that this particular enemy wasn't coming at them directly. There had to be a way to fight this enemy some other way then shadow boxing which was how Reardon was playing them.  
He walked up to the secretary again. "Does Congressman Reardon know what this meeting is about?" He then fixed her with such an intense look that would have sent a lesser woman stumbling back in tears.  
This woman however was made of sterner stuff. "Mr. Reardon is a very busy man." With those words Josh suddenly got the intuition that this woman not only knew what her boss was doing but approved of it. Josh knew that he wouldn't get any help from this woman and sat back down.  
Bruno, who had been pretty quiet since getting here, looked toward Josh. "I know that you don't want to hear this, but you can't go in swinging at Reardon."  
"I know you stress diplomacy, but this guy is itching for a fight. The sonofabitch is doing this deliberately. He doesn't want to settle. "  
"Nevertheless, we can't be on the attack with this guy. We go in fighting, then Reardon wins."  
Josh was about to respond when suddenly the door opened. The secretary got up and walked to the door. "Congressman, Mr Lyman and Mr. Gianelli are here to see you."  
"Thank you, Lois."Both men stood and Lyman suddenly found himself in a position that he had honestly thought might not ever occur---- face to face with Congressman Reardon.  
In all of Josh's years in professional politics, Josh thought that you could divide people into two groups: those who looked like politicians and those who didn't. There were no hard and fast rules, mostly you could tell after being in a room with them for just a few minutes. The first time Josh had seen Josiah Bartlett when he was just governor of New Hampshire, Josh thought that he looked like a professor--- maybe someone who taught poetry. It had taken him a long time to realize that behind that exterior was a shrewd political mind.Even now, he still had the appearance of a professor. J0hn Hoynes, on the other hand, looked and acted the part of a busy politico. One saw it in his eyes and in his attitude.  
Henry Reardon did not look like he was a politician. His entire appearance made him seem like he was anything but the astute political mind that he appeared to have. To be perfectly honest, he looked rather slovenly. His hair wasn't combed in the proper way, his face seemed unshaven, his clothes didn't seem to fit properly. If he had been a cop, he appeared to have been one of the most uninspiring pictures of law enforcement in terms of both appearance and attitude.  
But there were signs that Reardon had more going for him then met the eye. Josh was not that tall, but he towered over him.According to his jacket, he was forty eight, but he could have passed for ten years younger. But the most striking thing about him were his eyes. Josh could read that there was anger in them. This was a man who did not like to be bullshitted.  
  
"Mr. Lyman." The tone was non-committal, but Josh could sense the anger. And something else; was it amusement? "Come into my office." No request, this was an order. Josh didn't like taking orders from anybody who he didn't work for. Nevertheless, he and Bruno walked into his office without any argument or ugliness.  
Congressmen Reardon's office looked like any congressman's office. There were however some distinct differences. The pictures of the President were there but there were no press clippings: no paper mentioning that he had passed any legislation, no pictures of him with the President, no signs even of his being elected. Instead there was a police badge identifying Henry Reardon as a member of the Baltimore Homicide division, a picture of a younger Reardon in a policeman's dress blues and a picture of him in a suit with several older men who were probably members of the Baltimore P.D. There were also no pictures of his family or children if he had one. It was clear what Henry Reardon considered the most important thing in his life.  
"We've been trying to see you for a few days now." Josh tried to pass the comment of as a joke while giving sign that this was at least a little offensive.  
"Well, we're all here now, so lets get down to business." Josh was unsure how to approach this level of what was, to say the least, rude behavior. Most people---political or not--- greet a member of the White House staff with a certain amount of respect according to their position. Henry Reardon was treating Josh like he had come to his office to sell him encyclopedias. He had not offered them anything to drink, invited them to sit down, or even said 'please' when greeting them. But Josh didn't know of anyway to address this issue without making it seem like he was uncomfortable; to him this would be surrendering the advantage.  
"Congressman...." Josh paused. For a moment, he seemed lost. What is the etiquette for approaching the political equivalent of a traitor? "We got your message." That was as good a way to test the waters.  
"It only took you a week to figure it out. It's great to know that our highest office in the land is filled with the best and the brightest." Reardon spoke without any inflection at all. He still managed to sound offensive and amused.  
"To be fair, Congressman, it wasn't like you took out a full page ad in the Post.' Josh didn't know why he was softballing the man, but he thought that coming out angry would not help anybody.  
"You can saya lot by saying nothing, Mr. Lyman. I got the idea from Nick Nolte." Josh tried to hide the confusion that was on his face, but it must have come out nevertheless. "Remember the Oscars a few years back? They were giving a lifetime achievement award to Elia Kazan and while most of those Hollywood mopes just stood up and clapped for that rat fink, the camera cut to Nolte just sitting there. Spoke volumes." Reardon paused. "Still can't believe they gave the Oscar to Bengini over him.That was a real miscarriage, wouldn't you say, Mr. Lyman?'  
There it was again. It had been awhile since Josh had disliked the sound of his own name. Not only was the sonofabitch leading the conversation, he was doing so in a very offensive way.  
"Congressman, I think we are getting a bit off the subject."  
"And what is the subject? The message that I sent the President? It's a good thing that you finally got it; I figured that I would have to piss on the White House lawn in order to get your attention." He still wasn't giving anything away; Josh realized that he was going to have to drag it out of him.  
"Is that all this is? A ploy to get attention?" Josh was trying to keep the anger out of his voice but he didn't think that he was doing that good a job.  
"Well, you're here. That shows that I'm deserving of a certain measure of seriousness." Josh realized that this was some kind of police technique. Ask questions you know the answer too, change the subject, shock your opponent; anything to keep him off-balance. He used the same technique in his own kinds of meetings when he wanted to run ragged over the opposition. He realized that Reardon was no fool, which only made his job that much more difficult.  
"You're considering bolting the party, Congressman; we take those sorts of actions very seriously." There it was; get it out in the open, see how he reacts.  
"Bolting is such a strong word, Mr. Lyman.I prefer the term relinquishing. I am letting go of all the holds that being a member of the Democratic party has forced upon me; I am setting myself free to follow my true path. It's really a very enlightening experience realizing where you want to go." Despite the contents of his message, Reardon sounded just as neutral as he had when discussing Nick Nolte; Josh got the idea that this was not how he really felt but rather part of the spiel that he had used on other congressmen. "But why should my actions cause such a reaction in the executive branch?"  
At this point Bruno, who had been silent up until now, spoke up. "Congressman, you know that this is---  
Reardon turned his head very rapidly. "I don't remember asking you a goddamn thing!"  
Bruno closed his mouth and maintained the facade that he always did. All the same Josh thought that he could distinguish shock in those features. He was shocked himself, and as much as he didn't like Bruno, he felt inclined to defend him.  
"Congressman Reardon, Mr. Gianelli is a member of the White House staff and should be according the same amount of respect as anyone else."  
Reardon snorted. "In this building, people get the amount of respect that they earn. Mr. Gianelli doesn't have a hell of a lot in the bank with me."  
"If you're not going to treat him with the same amount of respect that you would anyone else, there isn't any point in continuing this meeting." The moment Josh said this, he knew that he had made an error.  
Reardon walked to the door and opened it. "In that case, we have nothing more to talk about. Have a nice day."  
"Congressman---" Josh was seriously getting angry. Bruno stepped in.  
"Congressman Reardon, if I leave would you be willing to continue talking to Mr. Lyman?"  
"Fine with me."  
Josh walked over to him. "Bruno, you don't have to do this."  
"Find out what ever we need to learn in order to destroy this sonofabitch." Bruno sounded perfectly calm but Josh could see the anger in his eyes. He left the office. Josh turned towards Reardon, trying to balance his anger and his calm.  
"What do you have against Bruno?" Josh needed to know how this man felt.  
"He's a salesman, Mr. Lyman. Someone who will work for anybody, regardless of their world views, and do everything in their power to ensure that the person they work for gets a satisfactory result. When I was on the job, we had a word for people like Gianelli. " Reardon paused. "Hit men."  
It took a second for the vastness of the slur that the Congressman had just delivered. Josh almost felt like sitting down at what he had heard  
"You're doing everything possible to make an enemy of the White House."  
"Does that mean I won't be on your Christmas card list? Heaven forfend."  
"Congressman Reardon---"  
"Mr. Lyman, in case you hadn't already guessed, I have never been a big fan of this administration. I don't see any particular reason that I should start trying to win friends and influence people over there."  
Josh made one last effort to gather his restraint. "Congressman, if you do this you will be committing political suicide. No one in D.C. will want to come near you. More than that, if you do this you will destroy the Democrats for years to come. Maybe decades. "  
Reardon took this in for all of five seconds. "First of all, I'm encouraged to know that the White House cares about my career so much. If I don't know better, I would swear that people in the White House actually gave a damn about how I ran my career. Second, your concern for the Democrats is touching but just the tiniest bit hypocritical. If I were doing this four years or eight years from now, I'll bet you wouldn't be so up in arms about my laying waste to the party. Especially considering all that you and your people have done to wreck it yourself."  
Suddenly, Josh had had enough. "How dare you talk to me this way!I speak for the President and the White House----"  
"As a man who speaks for the President, you can go stick your head up a mules ass.If the President wants to try and talk me out of this, he is welcome to try. But I am done speaking to lackeys and political opportunists. And you can take that message to your President and your White House, Mr. Lyman."  
Josh drew himself up to this full height. "All right, you redneck son of a bitch. I will give your message to the President. And I am going to advise him and the Democrats to do everything in their power to make sure that your campaign never makes it out of the gate. You have no idea what the wrath of the White House feels like, Mister Reardon but you're gonna find out."  
Reardon met the glare in his eyes with one of his own. "Bring it on, motherfucker." He then walked to the door. "Lois, see Mr. Lyman out.The next time I see you will be on your turf."  
Josh couldn't get out of there fast enough. Bruno barely had time to acknowledge his presence before Josh grabbed him.  
"What did you learn? "It took a minute for Josh to recover from the burst of anger that he felt.  
"He's an arrogant son of a bitch, that's for damn sure. He's looking for a fight."  
"What else?" It took Josh a moment to realize what else he had learned.  
"He's not afraid of the White House's reaction. Or anyone who works there."  
"Does he have a weakness?"  
"Didn't get that good a read of him. How about you?"  
"He's angry at the political system, hostile towards the President and devoted to his cause." Bruno paused. "If I were looking for someone to take on the President, I would never pick someone like him."  
"So we can beat him?"  
Bruno hesitated again. "This is the kind of enemy that doesn't know when he's been beaten. That's the worst kind to have."  
"How do we beat him?" Josh repeated. He didn't like seeing Bruno so at loose ends.  
"We have to completely annihilate him." For a moment Josh was thrilled. He had gathered an extreme case of dislike for this man and he really wanted to tear him apart. Then rationality set in as he realized what this would mean and how it would look.  
"Damn it."  
"Can you see any other way?"  
Josh thought about what little he had gotten out of the conversation. "Reardon said that the President might be able to talk him out of it." He balanced this message by taking the tone that this was a bad idea.  
Bruno pondered this for a few seconds--- for him that was a long time. "Maybe that's the only way we can reach him."  
"Well,how do we do this without making it look like Reardon isn't pulling the strings?"  
"Either we disguise the meeting with some other cause or we make it about something else. Maybe the crime bill or drugs, which seems to be Reardon's meat."  
"Bruno...."  
"I know you think that this is a bad idea, but if Reardon goes forward with this---- and right now, it seems like he's going to---- the party will be damaged long past this election. It may take decades to recover. It is of tantamount importance that we find a way to stop him, and damn the damage that we take."  
Josh didn't like hearing Bruno talk this way. The normally calm political operator had just the faintest tinge of desperation in his manner.  
"This is going to look like giving in."  
"To who? Reardon has gone to a great deal of trouble to see that no one finds out about his moves. We can't count on that continuing much longer. If the President can hold it off, we are obligated to try."  
Josh would have debated the soundness of this move, but he realized that Bruno was probably right and that he was seeing red. He didn't think that the President would be much happier but he had to take this to him. He only hoped that some miracle could hold off what was coming.  
  
The Oval Office 7:40 p.m.  
  
Back when he had been merely a congressman and a governor  
from the state of New Hampshire, Josiah Bartlet had been a man who got riled up pretty easily. They say that with age comes experience and patience, but one of the reasons that other members of the Democratic party had thought that he wasn't meant for higher office was because of his reputation for losing his cool whenever a situation got the better of him. He had a habit of becoming irritated whenever he was a witness to something that he considered incompetent. And since in politics, no matter how good your people are, you inevitably run into mistakes, he was irritated fairly frequently. Most of his staff had witnessed that when he had been campaigning for the Presidency the first time. To be fair to them, most of them had learned the lesson quickly and had done their damnedest to make sure that they did not encounter the wrath of Bartlet again. There had been a fair amount of mistakes made by this team, but Bartlet had learned that no matter how experienced the administration is, there are still going to be a fair share of screw ups. Consequently, they had encountered the anger of the Presidentas little as possible.  
Then the affair a la Reardon had begun to unfold.When he had learned that Henry Reardon had been attacking the administration he had been more surprised then anything else. He had not given a lot of thought to the congressman from the Maryland eighth before or after his election to the Presidency. In fact the only real memory that the President had of Reardon was from the previous election when he had attended a political rally for him in Baltimore. He had remembered that Reardon had been missing the typical ebullience that you usually get from a campaigner, but Bartlet had noticed that a fair share of Democrats had not been very happy that he had managed to win the nomination instead of Hoynes and had chalked it up to simple disappointment. He didn't think that he had seen Reardon more than half a dozen times since his first inauguration but he didn't think that it meant anything. Reardon wasn't on any major committees and the Maryland eighth wasn't that important a district. He had no real memory of the man but he thought he wasn't that big an individual politically.  
Then he had learned exactly what Reardon was planning. His first immediate reaction had been to scream for the heads of Josh and C.J., not to mentionalmost every other member of the staff. His attitude had been that a man was attempting political treason right under his nose, and nobody knew about it? What kind of idiots do we have running this administration. He had calmed down a little when he learned just how close to the vest Reardon was running this, but he was still furious. Only an immense effort by the part of Leo had managed to calm him down. It didn't help matters that nobody at the White House could seem to get the time of day from Reardon's office. Then Josh and Bruno had come back from their meeting with him. Josh had tried to keep his calm, but Bartlet had not seen Josh this furious in a long time. What had bothered him even more (and had gotten through the cloud of anger that was over him) was seeing how rattled Bruno was. Bruno had reacted to everything as if he had ice water in his veins; to get past the layer of calm that Bruno had would take an effort of an extraordinary magnitude.Now for the first time, the depths of the threat that faced his administration seemed even greater than he had imagined and he thought that this might be a far greater problem than he had wanted to believe and that crushing him---- which had been his first reaction--- might not be easy and it might not be enough.  
When Bruno had told Leo what he wanted, Bartlet was vehemently opposed to giving him the time of day. Leo and Bruno both had to convince him that the danger to the party was so great that they owed it to that institution to try and stop this mess from exploding. Even then he had not wanted to meet and try to be diplomatic but Leo managed to convince him. He even made the phone call to Congressman Reardon's office himself. Reardon had been willing--- perhaps a little too willing---- to meet with them despite all his animosity towards the White House.  
So here they were as the two of them had been together so often. To the outside observer they would both appear cool as cucumbers. Just two men who were along with a third going to determine the fate of the Democratic party. The meeting was supposed to begin at 7:30 but Bartlet had argued that with all the hoops that Reardon had made them jump through, he should have to cool his heels for a little while. Leo was taking the opportunity to give his old friend some last second advice.  
"Remember, Mr. President, you are Bartlet the peacemaker. We approach this calmly and rationally."  
"The guy wants to fight, Leo. He wants to tear the party that you and I have belonged to since we were kids in two. And you want me to handle him diplomatically?" The President tried to sound amused, but he felt constrained and pissed and he wanted that to show.  
"We're not going to start a fight."  
"What if he starts one?'  
Leo paused just for a second. "Then look at me. I'll give you a signal."  
"Which will mean?"  
"Bring it on." He smiled grimly.He was ready. Leo walked to the intercom and pressed a button.  
"We're ready to see him." Bartlet walked out from behind the Roosevelt desk and Leo walked back from the intercom in order to stand beside him.  
Charlie entered the room. "Congressman Reardon." As always the personal assistant to the President gave no indication from his tone that he had reached any judgement on the person who was about to enter. Still Bartlet wished that he could know what the young man thought about the person who was as close to him as anyone in the White House.  
Henry Reardon walked into the room. He had not changed a great deal since the last time Bartlet had seen him last. He looked like he was not particularly comfortable and he seemed more than a little unkempt. He was a tall man. Bartlet disliked meeting people who were taller than him because it meant that he had to look up at them. He also seemed a little sure of himself. This rankled the President but he knew that there were occasions when he came out sounding arrogant to people he didn't like. Stay calm, he told himself.  
"Congressman."  
"Mr. President." The voice seemed calm assured.  
"Thank you for coming."  
"Well, its not as if I could turn you down." He smiled a smug little smile. Bartlet decided to let that one go.  
"What happens?"  
"Excuse me."  
"If I had turned you down. Would you have me arrested? Detained in a military detention facility?" Bartlet didn't like where this conversation was headed.  
"Something like that. You're not supposed to refuse an invitation to the White House."  
"Why?" Again with the annoying question. Bartlet got the sense that Reardon was trying to lead this conversation.  
"We're a democracy. We're supposed to have the right to say 'No, I will not.' to whoever asks us something, no matter who . I read that on a bumper sticker." He was taking a tone. He sounded uppity and amused at the same time.  
"Perhaps we could get down to business." Leo was trying to be diplomatic.  
"Yes, lets do that." The President walked over to one of the sofas and sat down. Leo followed. So did Reardon, but he hesitated for a moment.  
"Can I offer you a drink, Congressman?" asked Bartlet.  
'Let's get down to business." Now he could sense curtness in Reardon's tone.  
"Surely we can be friendly."  
"Why should we? Right now you hate my guts and I don't feel especially warm towards you. So lets cut the crap and get on with this meeting."  
Leo touched the desk. Bartlet wondered if that was the signal. He decided that he no longer cared. The bastard wanted to fight; Bartlet resolved to give him one.  
'All right then Congressman; let us get down to business. What the hell do you think that you are doing that you are doing to the Democratic Party?" Bartlet's tone was soft but there was a certain degree of menace in it. If Reardon heard it, he gave no sign of being offended.  
"What exactly am I doing that you find so offensive, Mr. President? The fact that I'm wrecking the Democratic party or that I'm doing it while you are trying to run for reelection?"  
"That doesn't make any difference. I've been a Democrat for over forty years, Congressman.This is the party that elected me to Congress, that made me governor and made me president.And I will not stand idly by while you attempt to split the party in two."  
Reardon took this in for about ten seconds. "First of all, how dare you assume that the Democratic Party means any less to me then it does to you. I may not have been a Democrat as long as you have,but I certainly realize its importance to me and to the nation. Second, in case you have forgotten, the Democratic party has been split before. It has survived the Civil War, the amount of precious metal in the dollar, civil rights and George Wallace. And yet it carries on. If it can survive those obstacles, it can certainly overcome my little defection."  
Bartlet looked at Leo, and saw a certain expression of surprise on his face. He realized that he had made a major miscalculation regarding Reardon. He had thought that because he had never gone to college or been a political animal for as long as him that Reardon could be handled despite how Josh and Bruno had failed to cow him. This was a mistake and they needed to regroup.  
The look had lasted no longer than a fraction of a second. Reardon picked it up nevertheless. "I'll bet that the two of you thought I would just fall at your feet the moment I came within six feet of the Oval Office."  
"We're not that naive, Congressman, no matter what you amy think of us." said Leo.  
"Neither am I, Mr. McGarrey. Neither am I. Oh,and I don't see why you are so objectional to the idea of the third party. What was your margin of victory in the election? 48 percent to 44, I believe. Where do you think that other eight percent was going; Howard the Duck."  
Bartlet had known that he would bring that up. "As you may recall, Governor Bradford took equally from the Democrats and the Republicans. Both parties objected to him."  
"That may be true but eight points from the Democrats turns it from a squeaker to a landslide; eight from the Republicans and.... Well,we're not having this conversation are we." Reardon smiled, Bartlet could tell that it was fake. "SO what you object to isn't that I'm cutting into your party as that I'm not cutting into the other guys, hmmm?"  
"That's not what we are saying and you know it." Bartlet responded testily.  
"Would it make you feel any better if I told that I considered going to the Republicans?" That gave Bartlet a start; the information that he had gotten did not reveal that Reardon had even been having conversations with the other party.  
Leo nodded. "I'll bet the conversations weren't very productive."  
"Well, its very difficult to talk the winning side. And  
that's what's really galling you about my little venture. Not because you're afraid of what will happen to the party, but because of what might happen in this election." Reardon smiled smugly.  
Bartlet didn't like the way that this whole conversation was going. Normally, inviting a man to the White House cows him a bit. It was one of the greatest ways to level the other guy and make sure that he had the advantage. If Reardon had given up any of his advantage, it certainly wasn't evident the way that he was leading this conversation.  
"All right, lets say that I'm being selfish. Lets say that I'm less concerned about the Democratic Party then I am about getting reelected. That doesn't make me less of a President or less of a politician. But if you and Gilette do what you're planning to do, the Republicans will tear us to shreds.The Democratic Party will survive but it will be damaged for quite awhile. And I do want to remain President and finish fulfilling my obligations to the office and to my country. Now surely you can understand why you can't do this now."  
Reardon took all this in. "That was a very impressive speech, Mr. President. I give you ten points for delivery. The validity of it is slightly diminished by the fact that in your term of office you have done far more damage to the Democratic Party than I ever could."  
For a long time, maybe five seconds, Bartlet and Leo remained absolutely still as if neither of them could get over the magnitude of the accusation that Reardon had just leveled at him.  
Leo recovered first. "Where the hell do you get the nerve to say that? How dare you speak to the President that way?"  
"Leo..."  
"Someone has to have the nerve to." Reardon responded. "Someone has to tell you the truth. In your three years in this administration what have you done? You came into office saying that you would make big radical changes, make us proud to be Democrats. And what did you do?"  
"Yes, what did I do?" Bartlet responded coldly. Leo knew by his tone that he was getting angry. Reardon either didn't know or didn't care.  
"You became another politician. You drove straight to the center of the road and you stayed there. You had countless---- countless--- opportunities to prove that you were more than that and every time you took the safe path. And every time there was an opportunity to make a difference, your staff dropped the ball."  
"How dare you..." Reardon didn't even give Leo a chance to finish."  
"The assault weapons bill you took all the teeth out and then nearly fumbled passing that. The education package your staff got you involved with the HUD undersecretary misquote. Mendoza's confirmation, you had a Democratic fundraisers son arrested for possession of controlled substances."  
Leo was becoming furious. "You're blaming us for incidents that were completely out of our control."  
"That's the point! You were so busy dotting every i and crossing every t that you never even looked to see if there were any minor problems. You couldn't even get minor victories without coughing up the ball." Reardon paused. "And then when you did get a victory, you backpedaled."  
"I suppose that you have an example of that." Bartlet was trying to remain calm but he was merely waiting for the moment that he could carve him up."  
"You move heaven and earth to appoint to the FEC three people in favor of closing the soft money loophole in campaign finance. Then as soon as you begin you reelection campaign, you start mailing ads to New Hampshire based on ---wait for it --- soft money."  
Now Bartlet was genuinely shocked. It was true that the FEC had taken no direct action to close the soft money loophole. But he had thought that he had made it clear that he wasn't going to take advantage of it.  
"How did you find out about that?"  
"It doesn't matter. My information is accurate."  
"So you've been keeping score of all my offenses. When did you have time to pass legislation?"  
"There's plenty of time to do both, Mr. President. And why are you stopping me before I get to the good part." All signs of amusement had left his face  
"SO now you are going to hold my having MS against me."  
"No, this is the part where you lie to your doctors, your staff, your Congress, and--- lest we forget--- the American people about having hidden a potentially fatal illness from the voters in order to win an election."  
"You're not the first man to yell at me about this."  
"Well, now you actually have to listen to one. You commit this massive fraud on the people of this nation. And you don't even have the common courtesy to apologize? "  
"I accepted culpability for my actions."  
"Not nearly enough, Mr. President. You didn't take nearly enough. Did you apologize to anyone, Mr. President? To your own staff?" Did you even apologize for causing your wife to commit malpractice?" Reardon's voice was getting dangerously loud.  
"You might want to lower your voice, Mr. Congressman." Bartlet could sense the anger in Leo's voice.  
"Or what? You'll have me arrested? Escort me to some detention facility? Go right ahead." Reardon got up. "You want witnesses? Call on your staff. I'm sure that they'd love to chime in." Reardon sat back down. "You can't do a goddamn thing to me. Because I'm a Congressman and if word gets out that you arrested a member of the House of Representatives because you didn't like the tone of his voice, you're going to get a reputation that you really don't want."  
The President didn't like any of this. He had expected Reardon had a bone to pick with him; he just hadn't expected him to give a point by point. The thing of it was that like any crackpot, Reardon had the appearance of sounding sane every once in a while. He could now imagine how the Congressman has managed to sell this to others.  
"Congressman, I already have a reputation. If I didn't, people wouldn't be able to impugn it. And I could care less what you think of me then what the American people think of me."  
"I wouldn't base my reputation on what the American people think. "  
"You don't have faith in the American people?"  
"And your telling me that you do?"  
"I answer to them."  
"No you don't, Mr. President. You answer to surveys and focus groups. Groups which are assembled by those who care enough to answer a five-minute phone call in which a series of leading questions are asked to determine whatever it is that the pollsters want others to think. I think if you rewrote Mein Kampf in the politically correct language you could get people to accept Anti-Semitism. And voters. Don't make me laugh. This nation has produced the most informed voters on every possible bit of information on politics. And their reaction is 'Who gives a damn' Mr. President, almost half of the American people that you represent didn't even bother to show up at the voting booth."  
The President had encountered a lot of cynical people in his time--- in fact, there were several on his staff. Reardon, however, seemed to be taking it to new levels. Normally, he would have been offended by anyone taking this tone with him. But something about this bothered him.  
"Congressman, you mind if I ask you a personal question?"  
"Would it make any difference if I said no?" said Reardon. Bartlet sensed his tone but decided to ignore it.  
"If you hate politics and politicians so much, why did you run for Congress in the first place?"  
If Reardon was surprised by this change in direction, he gave no sign of it. "To screw over my bosses."  
The President was genuinely surprised by this answer and though he tried to keep it hidden, it must have shown on his face. Reardon picked up on it almost instantly"Did you think I was going to trot out that old chestnut about wanting to serve the people? Give me a break. If you honestly believe that anyone gets into politics for those reasons anymore, you're an even bigger fool than I thought you were."  
"But you were a police officer. How is it that not getting a promotion gets you on a trip that led you to D.C.?"  
For a moment, Reardon did not answer. There was a look on his face that Bartlet thought might have been nostalgic, but Reardon did not strike him as the kind of man who looked back on anything with fondness.  
"I was on the job for twenty years. My rise through the ranks might be considered meteoric. I made detective at 26, made it to Homicide before I was thirty, made sergeant when I was thirty three. Youngest shift commander in the history of Baltimore P.D." The look on his face was nostalgic."The sky should have been the limit for me."  
"If you were so good as an officer of the law why did you quit?" Leo asked. The look of nostalgia faded away. Replacing it was the familiar anger.  
"At a Christmas gathering one of the brass told me--- in sympathy,mind you---- that it was a shame that I was never going to rise any higher in the police. You see, Baltimore is a black city and I was both the wrong color and the wrong sex. My grasp would never exceed its reach." Reardon looked hostile. "I had reached the end of the line before I was forty."  
Bartlet found that he was feeling something that he had not imagined was possible: sympathy for Henry Reardon. As much as he disliked his actions, he imagined how difficult it would be for any man to be told that he could advance no further. He thought about saying something, then realized that Reardon would probably not appreciate or desire his compassion.  
"I still don't understand how that gets you here." said Leo.  
"For three years I ran the homicide shift. I watched as every years the number of murders investigated increased twenty percent while the number solved fell fifteen percent. I watched as some of my best detectives got transferred out because of a new idea in investigations. I complained to Captain Granger and Colonel Harris who told me that this was the policy of the department. So I sat in my office and waited for the inevitable. And then, February of '94, they told me that the Congressman Wade was retiring and that they wanted me to take his place."  
"Sounds fairly decent of them." Reardon shot Leo a disgusted look.  
"It was their subtle way of putting me out to pasture.The eighth was-- --is predominantly made up of people I had spent the last eighteen years arresting."  
"You mean they were black." said Leo quietly. Reardon turned and faced him for the first time.  
"More than half the crime in Baltimore is committed by blacks. Two- thirds of the victims are black. EIght of the detectives that I worked with are black, and four of them campaigned for me when I ran for Congress. You're not going to tar me with that particular brush." Reardon and Leo stared at each other for what seemed like hours but was less than a minute. Bartlet thought that he could feel the will of both men radiating off them. AT last Leo broke the stare.  
"So if that was such a dog, why did you agree to do it?"  
"Because I loved the picture in my head of those sycophants and toadies in the police bureaucracy hanging on my every word. Having to take me seriously after casting me out into the wilderness."  
"In other words, you wanted to screw your bosses." said the President. "All right, so you ran for revenge. That's original, I must admit. But you can't hope to hold on to office with that kind of attitude."  
"I went into the eighth telling them honestly that they would be better off with me in office rather then out of it. I told them that my opponents in the primary were nothing but gladhanding politicos who didn't know the first thing about crime and drugs. Which was true. Rather then tell them what they wanted to hear, I told them the truth and have kept telling them that ever since. And I actually managed to convince myself that if I made it into Congress, I might be able to make a difference on some of the ills that were plaguing Baltimore."  
"And then you came here and found out how hard it is to make great changes." said Bartlet.  
"Then I found out that as bad as politics was in the police, it's a thousand times worse here. " Reardon turned to the President. "But you already know that."  
"I know that Washington is a tough place to some in with great ambition and hopes for making sweeping changes. One must learn to make compromises and get used to making the place incrementally better." As soon as Bartlet said this, he realized that while this was true, it would not make Reardon feel much better about politics.  
"I could live with small changes but the changes are so tiny as to be unnoticeable. I may not have had the purest motives for running for office, but at least I was honest about them. Everyone in this town is out for themselves. Congressmen talk a good game about wanting to make a better future, but the fact is no one is concerned about anything that doesn't happen in the here-and-now. There's never going to be any great changes in politics because no one wants to think beyond how this is going to hurt them or help them in the next election. No one wants to deal with Social Security or environmental studies, or education reforms. All they're interested in is how it effects their district. "  
"And passing laws on legalizing heroin and cocaine would be somehow beneficial for your district?" asked Leo. "Is that going to be a central point on your campaign?"  
Reardon looked at Leo, then the President. "You came here to offer me a deal. You thought that for the right price you could get rid of me."  
"You really think that we are as blunt as that?"  
"I don't think you called my office five times because you wanted to engage in a meaningful dialogue." Leo tried to say something. "But your instincts are right. There are two things that you could do that would get me to dismantle my entire enterprise."  
Bartlet leaned forward. Reardon did have a price, and as much as he disliked the idea of having to take this kind of action, he knew that he had to at least hear him out. "And one of them deals with H.R. 835."  
"Mr. President, if you were to go on television and announce that you would give your full support to this legislation or a similar version of it, then I would call off the dogs that I have yapping at your heels."  
"Congressman, you know very well that if I were to do this, the country would fall apart. Two years ago, I announced my full support in favor of mandatory minimums. I can not reverse my position that radically. To do even a tenth of what you are asking for would destroy everything that we have lost in the war on drugs. We would be announcing failure and the damage to the infrastructure of this country would be so significant I can't even begin to imagine what would happen. It would be admitting defeat in the war on drugs."  
"And how is the war on drugs going, Mr. President? Do you see victory in the foreseeable future?" Again Reardon had found the correct button to push. The White House had a lot of problems with this issue as well.  
"We are making progress---"  
"Spare me the party line, Mr. President, and let someone who knows tell you."  
"And I suppose your years on the Baltimore police has made you an expert on all the socio-economics and legal battles connected with drugs." said Bartlet a bit snidely.  
"I may not be an academic expert, Mr. President, but if my years as a cop have taught me anything, its about how deep in this country is in drugs. You may have been valedictorian at Notre Dame and have a Nobel Prize, but believe me when I tell you that unless you spent anytime on the corner, you don't know shit about the war on drugs."  
"And what do you know?" The President thought that he knew what Reardon was going to say but he let him speak.  
"We are never going to win this war, Mr. President. You may get some small victories with teaching, but in trying to stop the process of addiction,forget it. Forget the country; in Baltimore alone, there are a hundred open-air markets and fifty thousand drug fiends. And they're young, Mr. President. Some of them aren't finished with junior high. But you can't reach these kids, Mr. President. Because it's not drugs were trying to beat; it's human desire. We are fighting human desire with lawyers and prison and lockups. And I know for a fact that human desire is kicking us squarely in the ass."  
It was pretty hard to argue with logic like that. "And you think that legalizing addictive, fatal substances is going to help us beat human desire? Men have been wrestling with this since the beginning of time. You honestly think that this is going to help?"  
"What else is there to try, sir? We've tried rehab and laws and long prison terms, and while we maybe doing some good in keeping down the supply, the demand keeps growing. What's left is to make the death penalty mandatory for those who even sell drugs. And how well do you think that that's gonna do, when we all know that drug dealers live their lives under permanent death threats? We can't win with little solutions;the most drastic measures must be taken."  
"And how will that stop addiction?"  
"We cut the legs out of every drug dealer in the country; that's going to save a lot of lives. Not to mention all the people we will be able to save from being killed over drugs. Whose going to shoot somebody else about an eightball of cocaine when you can go down to your local Rite-Aid and get it? Plus I'll lay you six to five that if cocaine is no longer illegal it will take some of the shine of kids trying it in the first place."  
"You didn't answer the President's question' said Leo.  
"And I'm not going to. I'm not concerned so much with stopping that as I am the crime surrounding it."  
"That's a pretty narrow viewpoint.And I wouldn't try that particular argument with the upper middle class."  
"Well, it would help people in Baltimore. And Philadelphia. And Detroit. And Los Angeles. And New York City. And I'll bet you the police in D.C. would be for it.In fact, if I ever have to start justifying it, Washington will be my starting point. How can the President hope to have a firm national drug policy when his own backyard? "Again Bartlet inwardly winced. It was a well known fact that Washington had one of the highest crime rates in the nation as well as a much lower clearance rate than other big drug cities.  
"You really feel that you can win the Presidency on that issue alone?" Leo asked.This time Reardon winced.  
"I'm not running for President. Let me make that very clear. Gilette will be heading this particular ticket. The only thing that I am running for is the eighth Congressional seat in Maryland. Let Gilette be the sucker."  
"And I suppose that you've told your feelings to Gilette?" Reardon either missed the sarcasm in Bartlet's voice or chose to ignore it.  
"Gilette is running for an ego boost and to show you people that he will not be pushed around by the White House. In that sense the two of us are well met. The only difference is he really wants to be president."  
"And you don't?" said Leo. For a moment, Reardon paused.  
"You know what is on Jefferson's tombstone?" Leo looked towards the President; Bartlet knew that his friend knew but was going to let him speak.  
" 'Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.' " Nothing about being President, if that's your point.'  
"That's not my only point. No mention of being Vice President or Secretary of State or even Congressman. What does that say to you?"  
"That he was a modest man. That he considered his other achievements superior."  
"Really? To me it sounds like he was ashamed. This man who had done so much for democracy, for the nation , for the Presidency---- he thought that it didn't matter. Or maybe he was smart enough to realize how involving himself in politics destroy an individual somehow. That it causes him to lose sight of all the good things in his nature."  
"That's a pretty harsh view, Congressman."  
"Is it, Mr. President? Your office does more to suck the life out of the people who have chosen to live there. "  
"That's a pretty ghoulish way of thinking."  
"Look at Lincoln. Look at Wilson.And FDR. Ever since the television age, we have watched our President'S get the vitality sucked out of them week by week. By the time their term is up, they are husks of what they were." Reardon paused. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep, Mr. President?"  
That hit a nerve. Bartlet would have moved to retaliate, except that he knew that this man was very good at sensing bullshit.  
"We're getting of the topic. " said Leo.  
"I don't want to be President. To be perfectly honest, I don't know why any sane man would want the job."  
"Are you questioning my sanity?" Reardon met his gaze again.  
"Don't you sometimes question it yourself? I'm willing to bet all the money in my pocket that you consider it at least once a day."Reardon shifted his glance to Leo. "And I'll bet that you think about why you let yourself be talked into this, too."  
"What if you don't have the option? The office sometimes has a way of seeking the man." asked Leo.  
"That's bullshit and you know it. I have not known any President in my lifetime who has not voluntarily sought the job. I have no intention of ever seeking it. "  
"Then why are you doing all this? Why are you going to such extreme lengths if you don't want the gold at the end of the rainbow?" asked Leo.  
"Why? Because I'm tired of having to choose between the lesser of two evils. I'm sick of dealing with having to support one position because it's the party line. I'm tired of all this division that comes about because one side feels that they're better than the other."  
"But that's how democracy works." said the President.  
"And we should just take it? Just because you're given two choices doesn't mean that either of them are right. People got sick of voting because they don't like either choice."  
"And you want to offer them an alternative." said Leo  
"People can barely tell the difference between Democrats and Republican nowadays. Politicians have blurred the line so much that people believe in the history of the party rather than the party itself. I want to offer them a choice, a real choice."  
"All right let's say that you can do this. You run as an independent ,you win. What kind of consensus will you build with you and a couple of Congressmen?"  
"First of all, if I win that means there will be four men in Congress with Independent leanings." said Reardon.  
"So Hellanoski, Gardener and Deshane are with you." said Leo.  
"They've agreed that they can be more effective as part of a group, so yes they're with me."  
"You really think that just because you get three congressman that they'll wave a new standard."  
"When I talked to them, they told me that they would like to have their opinions taken seriously. I think they all thought that I would help their cause. Plus it will mean that they have to be taken seriously."  
"They aren't now?" said the President.  
"Right not they're all regarded as loose cannons. With a unified front..."  
"All right. So there are four of you. What kind of platform do you intend to use in order to unify them?"  
"That would be telling, Mr. President. You'll find out soon enough what it is."  
"That reminds me. When were you planning on telling the press this grand scheme of yours?"  
"February 20."  
Again Bartlet started. "You plan on announcing the day after the New Hampshire primary?"  
"There will be a certain measure of interest. It will start my own news cycle." Reardon smiled. "Of course, I could be lying to you, Mr. President."  
"SO you unite these congressmen plus those you have running with you.What's next?"  
"Then we become an active part of the conscience of Congress. WE remind that they can't go back to bipartisan politics. We fulfill the role of giving another point of view to the politicians. Two years from now, we convince some more Democrats to join are way of thinking. Maybe we will get some Republicans,too."  
"And how do you plan to cross the partisan barriers?"  
"We play on their desperation. Politicians know the smell of it. When they see how things are going, they will fly my banner. We increase our number to a dozen, maybe more. Two years later, we try to run for Senate seats. Maybe we get people who don't belong to either party. Slowly we get Congress to redefine itself. Maybe the Democrats have to redefine themselves in order to win supporters or they start falling apart." Reardon's voice sounded further away. "In ten years time,we have a fully established third party with its own clear views. Maybe both of the other parties have to start rebuilding themselves with the people or risk being swept away."  
Leo looked at Reardon. "Well, it is a good plan. I only see one flaw."  
"And that is?"  
"The Democrats will never stand for it. They will do everything in their considerable power to make sure that none of their former members get anywhere. They have the money and the backing to make sure that not one of the men you back wins their district. They will go after you with both barrels."  
"And in the end, I'll be crushed. Politically deader than a doornail. That what you are trying to tell me in your subtle way?"  
"The Democrat may not be able to build a consensus on a lot, but they recognize an enemy when they see it. And you will be the enemy."  
"I don't think that will happen, Mr. McGarrey. I may become a new enemy, but the Republicans are much bigger and more dangerous. It's going to take a lot of their attention just to beat them, they can't spend all of their energy focusing on me and my small group of rebels."  
"They will make time for you."  
"Maybe, but I am going to make it as difficult as possible for them. They're going to have to use every ounce of energy and power that they have to wipe me out and I don't think that there is a lot that they can spare."  
The President spoke up. "You never had any intention of giving up this campaign, did you Congressman?"  
To his credit, Reardon did not hesitate. "I've put a lot of thought into this, Mr. President. One person could not talk me out of it, even if that one person is you."  
"SO why did you come here if you weren't going to back down?"  
"I wanted to see what you were made of. And I thought that you were at least entitled to the courtesy of my telling you why."  
Bartlet wasn't sure whether to be insulted by this remark or not. "What was the other thing?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"You said that there were two things that I could do that would make you turn off your campaign."  
"You're better off not knowing, sir."  
"I could order you to tell me, Congressman.'  
"You would pull rank on me. I didn't take kindly to that when I was a cop; I like it even less now."  
"If you're not going to be friendly with us, you don't leave us with a hell of a lot of options." said the President.  
"Don't run."  
Bartlet wasn't sure that he was hearing correctly. "Excuse me."  
"Tell the networks that you would like some air time and announce that in the nation's best interests, you will not run for reelection."  
"Now you know that is impossible, and you knew that before you came here that was the case."  
Reardon shrugged. "In this case, use the network time to apologize."  
"To who?"  
"Congress,the Party, the American people. A full and total apology for the deceitful lie that you have perpetrated."  
"Oh come on." said Leo. His oldest friend sounded angry.  
"I'm serious."  
"In case you've forgotten, The President accepted a Congressional censure less than a month ago..."  
"Yeah, and what does that mean to the American people? " Reardon was pissed off too.  
"He admitted that he did something wrong."  
"No, you did not." Reardon was looking at the President. "He accepted the censure, but he never said one word about it."  
"How much of this crap do I have to keep taking?" said the President. "How many pounds of flesh do I have to give before I satisfy everyone?" He didn't know if he was talking to Reardon or to himself.  
"This isn't about you, Mr. President. It's about your job. We hold our elected officials to a higher standard than everyone else. When you decided not to reveal your illness, you degraded the integrity of that office. You should apologize for that, if nothing else."  
" And I suppose that none of the good that I have done in this office counts for anything?"  
"The American people have a strange memory. They tend not to remember the good things that are done for them, but they always remember the bad stuff."  
Bartlet was beginning to wish that he had not agreed to this meeting. It was now very clear to him that he had never any chance of gaining anything from it and he was just taking hit after hit from him.It didn't help matters that Reardon had found chink after chink in his armor.  
"Congressman, you can't win this. Your vision may be grand but its one that our system of government will never allow to succeed." said Leo.  
"That maybe so. There is a very good chance that come November, I'll be back in Baltimore with nothing but a small pension to sustain me. But I have to tell you, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing.I believe that my vision has merit, but I don't relish the idea of sustaining for fifteen or twenty years."  
"Then why do it?"  
Reardon gave a sad smile. "Because sometimes in order for change to come, sacrifices must be made. Energy must be expended in order for radical differences to be instituted."  
"You can't win this." said the President.  
The sad smile remained on Reardon's face. "Maybe not. But I can be a worthy opponent."Another pause.  
"I think that we're finished." The President got up. SO did Leo and Reardon.  
"I'd say that it was good to meet with you, but I don't think that I'd be fooling either one of us." For a moment, he considered offering Reardon his hand but figured that he probably wouldn't take it.  
"And I'd say that it was an honor, but it wasn't." Reardon walked towards the door. "If the press asks,we spent the day talking about a stricter drugs policy."  
"Why are you being so soft with the press?" asked Leo.  
Reardon smiled again. "Don't worry about that. The real trouble is just around the corner." He opened the door and walked out.  
For a moment after the Congressman left the room, neither man said anything. Leo finally spoke."Well that was productive."  
"Leo, what did you expect to happen? That Reardon would just glance at my power and he would slink back into the corner from which he came? As much as we talk about all the power that this house has, the fact is that sometimes people just aren't impressed by it."  
"Yeah, well I never figured that somebody from this country would be one of them." Leo sighed.  
"You know, when I decided to take that censure, I had the audacity to think that this would somehow magically resolve all my problems with my own party." The President shook his head. "I knew that I had made a lot of people in the party angry with me, but I never imagined I could make them this mad. I think that guy wants my head on the wall more than the Republicans do."  
"He's got a lot of rage against us, that's for sure."  
"Tell me something, Leo. When you convinced me to hold this meeting, did you honestly think that Reardon would give us something so that we could beat him?" Leo appeared to think about it for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Then why even go through this in the first place?"  
"Because we needed to get the measure of the man. I had hoped that he would be someone who we could knock down without too great a struggle. I thought that maybe his dislike of you would be so glaring that we could sink him with it."  
"Well, he may be crazy , but he's far from a fool. That's another mistake we won't make again." When Leo looked at him, he added. "Come on, we both thought that just because he didn't go to college that he would be somebody that we could intellectually whip."  
Leo nodded. "I could have lived without his being so perceptive."  
"He's a bit maniacal, but the problem is that even the most maniacal of madmen can appeal to our sensibilities."  
"Yeah and he's so candid, he makes you appear modest. He's going to be very hard to shut down because he will make so much noise."  
The President nodded. "There's no zealot like a convert."  
"Yeah, and its the most recent converts that are all the more dangerous."  
Another pause. Then Bartlet asked the question he'd been dreading. "Have we got any idea how much this is going to hurt us?"  
Leo paused as well. "We put another poll in the field. This one deals with the districts that he's trying to convert Congressmen to. Problem is we can't measure the impact until we know what kind of platform he and Gilette are going to run on. "  
"If he's smart, he'll keep us hanging as long as possible."  
"But he also knows that he can't wait for too long or his party will never get off the ground."  
"Right. Do we have any idea how strong his relationship with Gilette is? I can't imagine that he would just allow himself to be a stalking horse for this guy."  
"Well,like he said, the mans got a huge ego. Reardon probably fed him a line of bullshit about how he would be a pioneer in a great political enterprise. The guy has always been in the administrations face; he probably figures that this would be the ultimate screw-you."  
"Do we know if Gilette plans to follow Reardon into the valley of the shadow and run as a member of this new party?" The President frowned. "You know they better come up with a name just so that we know what to call them."  
"We've been trying to reach Gilette too. "  
"Let me guess. His office hasn't been returning our calls either." Leo nodded. "Probably just as well; I'm not eager to go through the runround again. What's the staffs attitude?"  
"Josh and Toby are just itching to go after this guy with both barrels."  
"I bet they are." Bartlet smiled for a brief moment. "The problem is, if we go after him full tilt, we lend him credibility. Furthermore, he can play himself as one noble Congressman fighting the big bad White House which makes him look good and us look worse."  
"And if we ignore him, he'll say that this administration is full of cowards who don't want to deal with someone who has real ideas." Leo sighed.  
"You know, I love it when our enemies get us into these boxes. It keeps life from becoming dull."  
"Yes, because being the leader of the free world, one rarely faces substantial challenges. "They both shared a sad grin.  
"This will be difficult, Leo. I make no illusions that a hard campaign just got a lot harder. '  
Leo nodded. "But we have one advantage against him that he doesn't. Reardon's been a loner ever sense he got into politics. He hasn't bothered to make friends or form alliances that are necessary to win any campaign. He has a few, but mostly its him alone raging against the machine. You may not have as many friends as you did a year ago, but you have us. We will not allow you to be defeated because of this man alone."  
For a moment the President appreciated the warmth of this gesture. "When you send our people on their mission, remind them not to be completely blinded by this obstacle. Let us not get so focused that we forget all the other bumps in the road."  
"I know."  
"All right, what's next?"  
The President then began to concentrate on the rest of the foreign and domestic issues that he had to deal with. But a part of his mind was, as it would be probably until the election, thinking about Henry Reardon and the challenge that he was going to raise for the campaign and possibly for the country.  
End of Zealots and Converts Part I. 


End file.
